


Mother's Day

by birthdaycake_storytime_fall



Category: Holby City
Genre: Also very long for a one-shot, F/F, Nothing too hard hitting, fluffy in places, greif, not too much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 16:52:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10442565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birthdaycake_storytime_fall/pseuds/birthdaycake_storytime_fall
Summary: This is set on Bernie's first mother's day in contact with her daughter Charlotte since she returned to Holby and Serena's first mother's day after Elinor's death.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is set on mother’s day but Serena has already taken extra time off work and Jason is living with Alan, so it doesn’t quite follow the exact timeline of the show. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Mother’s Day 2017

Bernie had a rare day off work and Serena had been given additional leave to grieve for Elinor, since she hadn’t been ready to return to work and had been denying that for a month or so. The couple had spent the morning in bed together talking about anything and everything.

It was 11 o’clock in the morning and Serena decided to get out of bed and make coffees for herself and Bernie to get them out of bed and pulled her fluffy red dressing gown on over her black silk pyjamas just as there was a knock at the front door.

“Who’s visiting you first thing in the morning?” Bernie asked, lying under the covers with her eyes closed.

“Bernie, it’s 11 o’clock.” Laughed Serena, walking downstairs to the front door.

“Jason!” Bernie heard the muffled exclamation from downstairs.

“Hello Aunty Serena.” Jason beamed, standing in the doorway.

“Come in, I’m about to make coffee for me and Bernie. Can I get you a drink?” Serena walked through to the kitchen followed by Jason as she flicked the kettle on.

“Is Bernie here?” Jason asked, picking up on what Serena had said, instead of answering the question directed at him.

“Yes, she stayed over last night. We’ve only just got out of bed, actually. So, can I get you a drink?” Serena got two mugs out of the cupboard as she spoke.

“”I’ll have a glass of water please.” Jason said, placing a glitter-covered gift bag on the kitchen table, which Serena hadn’t noticed him holding when he’d come in.

“Oh, it’s mother’s day presents for you. I know that you’re not my mum, and I don’t want you to be, but you are the only mother figure that I have so Alan said that it would be nice of me to buy you something.” Jason explained.

Serena didn’t quite know how to react to this, since it was very unexpected, she had in fact forgotten that it was mother’s day. Tears of love and joy slipped down her rosy cheeks.

Jason was confused upon seeing the tears. “Oh no, have I made you upset? I really didn’t mean to do the wrong thing.”

“No, Jason, you haven’t.” Serena cut in, not wanting to worry Jason. “I’m very happy, these are tears of happiness. This is such a lovely and thoughtful thing for you to do for me, and I really appreciate it.”

“Oh, well that’s good then. But you haven’t even seen what’s inside.” Jason said, just as the kettle finished boiling and Serena went to fill the two mugs up and get Jason a glass of water.

“Let me just drink this and then I will open my presents.” Serena motioned to her coffee mug as Bernie appeared in the kitchen doorway.

Bernie had heard the last couple of lines of conversation and smiled at Jason, glad that Serena had such a thoughtful and kind nephew, and went to pick her mug up and drink her coffee.

Once everyone had finished drinking the three of them went into the living room so that Serena could open her mother’s day presents.

Serena took the first neatly wrapped present from the bag and started taking off the paper as carefully as possible whilst Jason and Bernie watched.

“They didn’t have any suitable card for you, so I didn’t get you one.” Jason explained, noting that Serena hadn’t mentioned the lack of a card but worried that she might be offended.

“Jason, I really didn’t expect you to get me anything at all.” Serena said, taking the first present completely out of the paper.

In her hand she held a lush bath bomb in pastel blue and pink colours. The second present was a variety box of chocolates, each filled with different flavours. The third, and smallest, present was a £30 gift voucher for John Lewis, which Jason knew was Serena’s favourite shop in the city centre of Holby.

Serena was touched that Jason would even think of buying her presents on mother’s day, let alone spending as much as he did on the presents, but he insisted that it was the least he could do when Serena cooked for him, let him live with her, and constantly take him to and from work.

“These are all amazing, Jason.” Serena said, getting off the sofa and asking if she could have a hug from her nephew, so glad that she had contacted him when she found out about her sister and grateful that they had such a wonderful relationship, despite the fact Jason was now living back with Alan.

“Would you like to stay for lunch?” Serena asked, feeling very hungry after not eating all morning.

 

X

 

The family of three sat down around the kitchen table to eat lunch together. Bernie had cooked some burgers for all of them and made some salad to share.

Just as they finished eating Bernie’s phone rang from the living room.

“Do you need to answer that?” Asked Serena, hearing the ringtone and recognising it as Bernie’s.

“If it rings again, then I will, but I don’t like to leave the table, really.” Bernie replied, wanting to be polite as she was supposed to be eating lunch with Serena and Jason, which almost never happened.

Once everyone had eaten and the dishes had been washed up Bernie went over to her phone, seeing it was a call from her daughter Charlotte. She excused herself to call Charlotte back upstairs, hoping that the call hadn’t been urgent.

Jason and Serena decided to listen to the radio in the living room whilst Serena tidied up, since her and Bernie had not gone to bed until very late the night before. Anything that needed to go upstairs was put in a neat pile on the coffee table so that Serena didn’t disturb Bernie’s conversation.

Almost quarter of an hour later Bernie returned to the living room with a smile on her face.

“Did you speak to Charlotte?” Serena asked, not wanting to come across as being nosy.

“Yes, she wants to meet me for dinner this evening.” Bernie grinned, genuinely not remembering the last time her and Charlotte had actually spent time together. “That’s okay with you, isn’t it?”

“Of course, it’ll be nice for you two to catch up. I know you haven’t seen her since Christmas and…well, I don’t think you’ve seen her at all with it just been the two of you in the time that I’ve known you.”

“That’s true, she was trying to forgive me for cheating on her dad and for being an absent parent, but it seems that she’s ready to see me now.” Bernie was glad that her daughter had been trying to build bridges with her, and glad that she had allowed Charlotte the time to do so.

“Well, that’s good. You need to be close to your daughter…” Serena trailed off, not knowing quite what to say next but clearly thinking of Elinor.

“Yeah. This must be a difficult day for you…it’s okay to be sad you know?” Bernie sat next to Serena on the large sofa, their knees touching and Bernie offering to hold Serena’s hand.

Silently Serena laid her head on Bernie’s shoulder as tears ran down her cheeks. Bernie could feel her shoulder getting damp from Serena’s tears and wrapped her arm around Serena’s back to rest on her arm, rubbing small circles with her opposite thumb on Serena’s knee.

After a couple of minutes Serena asked Bernie if they could go upstairs and Bernie complied, leading Serena upstairs whilst Jason sat in the living room watching TV.

“Thank you.” Serena whispered, lying on the bed with Bernie, both on top of the covers. Bernie knew that she meant thank you for everything that she had done since Elinor’s death, and even before then.

Eventually Serena fell asleep and Bernie decided to shower, wanting to be fresh and clean for when she met Charlotte that evening, feeling weird that she wanted to make an impression, since she was meeting her own daughter, but wanting to at least make an effort to show that she cared.

After showering and towelling herself dry Bernie returned to the bedroom to find some clothes to wear. As she left the bathroom, fully naked, she realised that Serena had woken up.

“That’s a sight to wake up to.” Serena smirked, knowing that she wouldn’t be in the mood for anything, but god she wanted to be.

“Are you perving at me, Campbell?” Bernie mocked, waltzing over to the bed to join Serena, despite the fact she was getting cold.

“Maybe I am.” Serena’s left eyebrow was raised and she was trying hard not to grin. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“No, I have to get dressed.” Bernie replied in a mock serious tone.

“Well, what on earth are you doing over here, then?”

“The look in your eyes told me this is exactly where you want me to be.”

“It is, but if you’ve got to get dressed then you shouldn’t be so distracted.” The joke conversation continued until Bernie really did have to hurry and get ready, although she still had time before she had to leave.

Bernie chose a loose fitting black blouse and a pair of black jeans to wear, and decided to wear a pair of nice earrings that Charlotte and Cameron had bought her for Christmas a couple of years previously. Overall, she looked more dressed up than she would do for work or everyday activities, but she still looked casual and not too overdressed.

Charlotte had asked Bernie to meet her at half past five at a restaurant just outside of the city center that Bernie had never been to before, but Charlotte said it served brilliant food.

It was 2pm and Bernie didn’t have to leave the house for almost three hours, but she was glad to be ready anyway. She decided to get her paperwork done before she went out, since she didn’t know when she would be back that evening. She took what she needed into Serena’s home office whilst Serena went downstairs to watch TV with Jason for a while.

Once Bernie was finished she read her work e-mails and replied to urgent messages that couldn’t wait until tomorrow, then she checked her person e-mail to find that Cameron had sent her an amazon voucher for £20 as a mother’s day gift. She realised how lucky she was to have such wonderful children and was so glad that they were both giving her a second chance to be their mothers.

Bernie then went into the living room and watched the second half of a film that Serena and Jason had been deeply invested in for the past hour or so.

 

X

 

At half past 4 Serena went upstairs to go to the toilet, but ten minutes later and she still hadn’t returned. Bernie had thought she’d seemed upset when she first went upstairs, but didn’t want to push Serena to talk when she didn’t want to, but she decided to go up and investigate whilst Jason made a start on his own dinner.

When Bernie entered the bedroom she saw Serena lying on the bed, on top of the covers, facing the wall away from Bernie.

“Are you awake?” Bernie whispered, quiet enough to not wake Serena if she had fallen asleep again.

She only received a nod in response and went over to spoon Serena, knowing that her girlfriend wasn’t in the mood to talk, but that she would want to be held. She knew these things about Serena without having to be told.

The couple laid silently together for a while before Serena broke the silence. “You need to go or you’ll be late.”

“You don’t need me to stay here with you? Charlotte would understand, and we could reschedule.” Bernie reassured, not feeling entirely comfortable with leaving Serena when she was feeling so vulnerable, knowing that Jason would likely struggle with comforting his aunty the way that she needed.

“Yes, please go and spend time with Charlotte. I’ll be okay.” Serena turned to look at Bernie with red, puffy eyes. “Just keep your phone on loud so that I can call you if I need to, please.”

“Of course, if you’re okay with me going.” Bernie smiled at Serena, noticing how beautiful even with such painful emotions written all over her face.

“Of course I’m okay with it. I love you.” Serena smiled half-heartedly back at Bernie, wanting to make the effort to reassure Bernie that she could be left alone.

“Okay, but call me whenever. I love you too.”

 

X

 

Bernie walked into the restaurant about 10 minutes late, giving an apologetic smile to Charlotte as soon as she sat down.

“Hi Charlotte. I’m so sorry I’m late, Serena’s struggling a bit today…you know.” Bernie apologised, realising that it wasn’t a proper greeting, especially since she hadn’t seen her daughter in about 3 months.

“Mum, it’s okay, I understand. It must be really hard for her, today of all days.” Charlotte replied, smiling to reassure her mum that she wasn’t to blame. “Is she okay with you being here?”

“Yes, she is. I’ve got my phone on loud in case she needs to ring me.” Bernie smiled. “So, how are you?”

Charlotte discussed her university course, which she had mentioned on the phone earlier that afternoon, as well as her friends and her girlfriend. Bernie was surprised, but obviously not unpleasantly, but this news. She had a feeling that Charlotte was attracted to women, but she had never had confirmation. As long as Charlotte was happy then Bernie didn’t care really, it’s not as though her daughter was in any way a different person just because of who she was attracted to.

They ordered their food, both opting for a pizza, as well as drinks before conversation turned to Bernie’s work. Charlotte knew that her mum ran AAU and the trauma unit there from when Cameron had told her about it, but she was interested to know how it was running.

When the food arrived, both pizzas larger than either Wolfe had expected them to be, the conversation died down into a comfortable silence.

“So, I really didn’t know what to get you for mother’s day,” Charlotte began “so I decided I’d pay for this dinner tonight. I hope spending time with me is a good enough present.”

“Charlie, you know I don’t care about material possessions half as much as I care about you. Spending time with you, having you forgive me, is the best present I could have ever asked for.” Bernie smiled, trying not to get emotional in a public place.

“I thought you’d enjoy it. What about Cameron? I know he’s in London.”

“I got an amazon voucher from him this morning, actually. He’s probably too busy to visit me.” Bernie was appreciative of both gifts from her children, but she would have loved to have actually seen Cameron at some point since he left for New Green Hospital in January.

Bernie and Charlotte then both ordered coffees instead of a dessert. Once they had finished Bernie’s phone rang and she saw it was Serena on the caller ID. Charlotte asked for the bill as Bernie went outside onto the quiet street to take the call.

“Serena is everything okay?” Bernie tried not to sound too worried, in case Serena was just calling to say something that wasn’t urgent.

Bernie could hear the tears in Serena’s voice on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, I just…are you…is it possible for you to come home soon?”

“Of course, Charlotte’s just paying the bill so I’ll say goodbye to her and then I’ll be on my way home. I’ll be back in a little over half an hour, probably.” Bernie reassured, seeing Charlotte leave the restaurant and stand a few feet away from Bernie to give her some degree of privacy.

After a couple of minutes Bernie hung up and Charlotte walked over. “Is she okay?” Charlotte looked concerned for Serena, and Bernie knew that Charlotte was a very caring and understanding person.

“Yeah, but I do have to get back to her. I’ll see you soon though, yeah?” Bernie hoped that her offer of meeting up again wasn’t too soon for Charlotte.

“Yeah, of course. Let me know when you can do. I’ve finished my term at uni anyway, so I’m in Holby for a bit.”

Bernie explained that she lived in a one-bedroom flat so Charlotte probably wouldn’t be able to stay over with her mum, but that Bernie would try to organise a day when they were both free anyway. The pair hugged, less awkwardly than Bernie would have predicted, and went their separate ways.

 

X

 

When Bernie arrived home she went straight into Serena’s bedroom where she knew her girlfriend would be, not acknowledging Jason in the living room, and found Serena in tears on the bed, under the covers now.

Again, she silently slipped into the bed next to Serena and held her, vowing to herself to stay in that same position until Serena was ready to get up. Serena cried loudly into Bernie’s chest, letting her emotions out as much as she needed to, wanting to be as close to Bernie as possible.

A while later and the loud sobs subsided, replaced with quiet whimpers, which stopped slowly after more time had passed. Eventually Bernie could tell that Serena was asleep and she still stayed in the same position, cautious not to move unless it awoke Serena again, Bernie wanting to allow her uninterrupted sleep as much as possible.

After about an hour Jason knocked on the door of Serena’s bedroom, being granted entry by Bernie.

“I am going to stay here tonight, I think. I’ll let Alan know. Aunty Serena was going to take me home but I don’t want to wake her up.” Jason reasoned, standing in the doorway.

“Okay, I’m sorry that I didn’t spend a lot of time with you today, despite having a day off. The next time I get a day off we should all do something fun together, yeah?” Bernie murmured, keeping her voice low.

“That would be okay. Did you have a nice time with your daughter today?” Jason asked, remembering Charlotte from Christmas but also noticing that Bernie never spoke about her daughter.

“I did. I haven’t seen her since Christmas so it was very nice to catch up with her, thank you for asking.” Bernie smiled, pleased that Jason had taken the time to ask about her day. 

“Did you have a nice day? I’m very sorry that I didn’t speak to you when I got home, but I knew your aunty was very upset.”

“That’s okay. I watched a documentary about world war two today, which was very interesting.” Jason replied, before saying that he was going to go to bed, bidding Bernie goodnight.

It had been an emotional roller-coaster of a day, especially for Serena, but Bernie knew that it was all part of the grieving process and that Serena would get better with time, maybe not fully, but she would survive.


End file.
